North America’s Building Trades Unions Kick-Off 2016 Legislative Conference with Focus on Values, Issues and Opportunities

Over 3,000 delegates attended the opening session of the two-day, 2016 Legislative Conference of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU). In a rousing opening keynote address, NABTU President Sean McGarvey noted the continued and steady growth that has occurred since the 2008 economic depression, while emphasizing the fact that continued success and growth will require an adherence to a value-proposition that is predicated upon partnerships with businesses and whole industries; expansion of community outreach efforts involving apprenticeship-readiness programs; and a firm commitment to a bi-partisan approach to politics that seeks to construct “Building Trades Majorities” at all levels of government.McGarvey also spent time reflecting upon the endorsement of NABTU for the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton.“There is only one candidate who has taken the time to understand us and our values,” said McGarvey. “And not just in 2016, but for decades. And that candidate is Hillary Clinton. Every candidate for president may think they know the building trades, but only one candidate has shown respect for Building Trades members, their jobs, and their families. And that's Hillary Clinton.”Delegates also heard from Chris Crane, President and Chief Executive Officer of Exelon; The Honorable Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island; and the Honorable Donald Norcross (D-NJ), US House of Representatives.Day Two’s program will include appearances by:

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo; Governor of New York

Jack Gerard; CEO of the American Petroleum Institute

The Honorable Rodney Davis; US House of Representatives

The Honorable Bill Shuster; US House of Representatives

The Honorable Steve Daines; US Senate

The Honorable Julian Castro; Secretary – US Department of Housing & Urban Development

The Honorable Hillary Clinton

ABOUT NORTH AMERICA'S BUILDING TRADES UNIONSNorth America's Building Trades Unions is an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry that collectively represent over 3 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada. Each year, our unions and our signatory contractor partners invest over $1 billion in private sector money to fund and operate over 1,900 apprenticeship training and education facilities across North America that produce the safest, most highly trained and productive skilled craft workers found anywhere in the world.